[procaare] IDS Experts Call for Rethinking of Testing Policy

[ProCAARE <procaare@healthnet.org>]

IDS Experts Call for Rethinking of Testing Policy
Reuters (02.14.03)
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LONDON (Reuters) - AIDS experts in the United States have called for a rethinking of
public HIV testing policy, saying new technology to diagnose the AIDS virus could
streamline the procedure and reduce the spread of the disease.

In a letter to The Lancet medical journal on Friday, Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus of the UCLA
AIDS Institute and Mark Etzel of the UCLA Center for Community Health in California said a
flexible approach to counseling is needed because a new, rapid HIV test can produce a
result within an hour.

Instead of counseling people before and after testing, counseling should only be given if
the test is positive or if the person reports high-risk behavior, they said.

"Local clinics are forced to spend their money on counseling staff instead of needed drugs
and treatment. Freeing these resources will open up new services for HIV-infected
persons," said Rotheram-Borus.

Under the current US system, people are counseled, tested and told to come back in a week
for their results. But some 700,000 tests are wasted because people do not return,
according to the researchers.

"People seek treatment and change their behavior when they learn they are HIV-positive,"
Rotheram-Borus said.

"If people don't return for their test results, they will maintain their behavior,
increasing the risk of infecting others through perinatal transmission, sex or needle
sharing," she added.

The researchers said the new model could also free up resources in developing countries
hit hard by AIDS. Nearly 30 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are living with HIV/AIDS.
Approximately 3.5 million people were infected in 2002.

Source: [AEGiS]: Reuters NewMedia: (02.14.03)

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